The Art of Living in the Modern World

Current Affairs

Architecture critic, Blair Kamin, and rich gas bag-with-a-comb-over, Donald Trump, got into a Twitter architectural war-of-the-words over the ostentatious sign recently installed on Chicago's Trump Tower. "The Donald" showcased his maturity in the tweets, as you would expect. Read more about it here.

The Kalo Foundation had two very important fragments from the (now lost) Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Midway Gardens (1914) donated to its growing collection. A "sprite" head and a wall panel from the building were donated by Phil Fedderson to the organization and are now on display at the Iannelli Home and Studio in Park Ridge, IL. It's a great new home for the pieces, especially since Alfonso Iannelli had such an important and integral connection to Midway Gardens and its sculpture. Plan your visit to see the pieces here.

Mark H. sends word that tourists to the Willis (Sears) Tower in Chicago had a bit of a scare recently when a 6 millimeter thick protective glass coating on "The Ledge" (those projecting glass observation boxes) cracked. Although no one was in danger, you can imagine how it still freaked people out. Read more here.

Friday saw the tragic loss of the iconic Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed library at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. Through the heroic efforts of the fire fighters, the rest of the building was saved and no one was thankfully hurt, but the loss of the library is a terrible blow. The Scottish and UK governments have already pledged to restore the lost library, but it will take years and a lot of money. Let's hope it can be done and we can learn from this loss. Read more here.

John Thorpe sends a photo of the current demolition of Bertrand Goldberg's old Prentice Women's Hospital, which was lost after a fierce preservation battle. Sadly, "progress" won out on this one. Read more about the loss here.

Method, hip makers of eco-friendly cleaning products in cool packaging, have broken ground on it first U.S. manufacturing facility in the South Side Pullman neighborhood of Chicago. With solar panels, green roof, wind turbine, and other green accouterments, Method's factory is attempting to open the first LEED Platinum certified packaged goods factory of its kind in the world. Read more about it here.

The Art Newspaper reports that a group of activists staged a surprise protest inside Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum in New York on Saturday, February 22, 2014. Holding banners and chanting, the activists were protesting labor conditions on the Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi branch of the museum. Read more about it here.

Michael Bridgeman was kind enough to send an update on the efforts around protecting the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Robert Lamp House in Madison, WI. Michael writes:

"Prospects for protecting the Lamp House are looking up with the final report from the ad hoc committee (which will be published soon). Their recommendations strike a good balance between preservation and development. On the preservation side they hit all the key issues: suggesting a historic district to protect the house's immediate surroundings, attending to views to and from the house, and recognizing the importance of sunlight reaching the third level, which will hopefully be restored as a rooftop garden. This is about as good an outcome as I could have hoped for. Still ahead is the heavier lifting before the Plan Commission and City Council, the bodies that can give the recommendations some real teeth. Madison values good process, so this will take another two or three months to be resolved."

Thanks Michael! We'll be sure to keep PrairieMod readers up-to-date on this story as it develops. To get more of the back story on this preservation situation, follow the link.

Finland has decided to revive plans and give the green light for an architectural design competition this spring for a new Guggenheim museum on Helsinki's waterfront, helping it join the ranks of cities like New York and Bilbao. Are there any Organic Architects out there interested in developing designs for the competition so we can have a worthy successor to Wright's New York masterpiece? Read more about it here.

The much discussed "Polar Vortex" that wreaked icy havoc across large swaths of the country recently has also affected Bear Run in Pennsylvania as well. The waterfall that inspired Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic Fallingwater has frozen solid in the subzero temperatures, a rare event for the normally quick-flowing stream. Read and see more here.

The Globe Gazette reports that Wright on the Park, the non-profit organization that restored Frank Lloyd Wright's Park Inn Hotel in Mason City, IA, has announced a new executive director, Caitlin Callahan. She plans to focus on education and public outreach. Read more about it here.

TheLedger.com reports that Commissioners vfor the city of Lakeland, Florida voted 5-2 on Monday to support Florida Southern College's request to rename McDonald Street to Frank Lloyd Wright Way. As evidenced by the photo at left, not everyone was pleased. Read the article here.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust is getting ready to celebrate its 40th anniversary by unveiling an organizational name change! In this letter, Graham J. Rarity, Chairman, Board of Directors, and Celeste Adams, President & CEO announce that effective immediately, the organization will be known as the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust. Read more about this notable change here.

Back in July, I put the call out for more architecture and design-related holiday cards to share this December. Well, December is now upon us and Frank Gruger was kind enough to share the following card and memory with us. Read about it after the jump...

WBEZ's "The Morning Shift" recently discussed the current community kerfuffle over the idea of turning two side-by-side Frank Lloyd Wright houses in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago into bed and breakfasts. Chicago magazine’s Dennis Rodkin weighs-in on what the fuss is all about and what the future of these Wright's might be. Listen to it here.

Continuing the theme of resistance to Wright-related development: The proposal for the first house based on a design by Frank Lloyd Wright will recommended for refusal by the North Somerset Council’s north area planning committee because "The council fails to accept this house as outstanding or innovative, or that it reflects the highest standards in architecture - all criteria for allowing permission within the Green Belt." Wow...and you thought the Kenwood neighborhood residents were tough. If a Frank Lloyd Wright house design does not meet the standard for "outstanding" or "innovative", I'm not sure what would. Read more here.

Jennifer Pritzker's plan to purchase the side-by-side Frank Lloyd Wright-designed McArthur and Blossom Houses in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago and turn them into bed-and-breakfasts was effectively killed in a recent public meeting thanks to opposition by neighborhood residents. Read more here.

Chicago is still grumbling about the recent ruling by the Committee of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (which is the final say on global building heights) that New York's WTC building is the new tallest building in America, usurping the title from the Willis (or Sears) Tower. Read more here.

The Chicago Tribune reports that a bronze statue of a little girl offering water by English artist George Wade created for the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 has been missing for almost 60 years---but a replica has been placed back in its Lincoln Park home. Read more about it here.

Michael B. was good enough to continue his excellent information gathering on the ongoing preservation struggle over the area development surrounding Frank Lloyd Wright's Robert Lamp House in Madison, WI. Read more about the most recent Lamp House development after the jump...

Architects Journal UK reveals that Stephen Brooks Architects is working with a couple in the UK
to build the unrealised Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Dr. and Mrs Arthur O’Keeffe House (1947) in rural Tyntesfield
Springs, Wraxall, near Bristol. As stated in the article: "...the
scheme ‘will be both the first house in the UK to be constructed to a
design by Wright and the last house designed by [him] anywhere in the
world.’" Of course, building anything post-Wright breeds controversy (anyone remember the Charoudi-Massaro House?) Read more here.

Globegazette.com reports that Pat Schultz will be leaving her position as executive director of Wright on the Park Inc. (which oversees the beautifully restored Historic Park Inn Hotel) at the end of 2013. Read more about it here.

The Lakeland, Florida Ledger reports that a Florida Southern College program started spring 2013 to provide
on-campus feral cats with shelter, vet care, and food has been suspended
indefinitely. Apparently there are concerns that the Wright-inspired housing provided for the cats could attract other wild animals, such as possums or raccoons, and they could have rabies. Read more here.

News reaches us from Nelson Brackin that Dr. Joe Rorke, Frank Lloyd Wright's doctor and long-time physician at Taliesin passed away June 4, 2013. Nelson provides a photo of Dr. Joe he took at the last Taliesin Fellows Reunion. Our sympathies to Dr. Joe's family and friends at Taliesin West.

As the rivers in the Chicagoland area spilled over their banks this last week, Modern Architecture lovers waited with angst to see whether or not Mies van der Rohe's steel and glass masterpiece, the Farnsworth House (1951) in Plano, IL would succumb to flooding once again. According to the house's website and Lee Bey's blog, it seems like the stilted home's interior may have dodged a bullet this time. I won't rest too easy until all that water goes down. More here.

The Chicagoland area received some pretty heavy rains the last two days which is causing some major flooding. Of concern to architecture lovers is that several important Prairie School homes, including several by Frank Lloyd Wright, are very near the Des Plaines River. Read more here.

More information comes out about the loss of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hoffman Auto Showroom at 430 Park Avenue in New York City, which was completely gutted during March 29- April 3. Although altered twice over the years, when it was destroyed it still retained the central and distinctive Wright-designed elements of the spiral ramp and turntable. PrairieMod contacted the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy to provide some aditional information regarding what was being done to try and save this site in the months prior to its sudden demolition and for some reaction to its loss. Read more after the jump...

Today marks the 54th anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright's passing. He was almost 92 when he passed and his legacy shines on in the inspirational works and words that he left behind. It's amazing how one creative person can have such a remarkable impact on so many lives. Help keep that legacy alive by becoming a member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, or any of the many individual sites that promote Wright's legacy.

I stumbled across a disturbing news article this evening from commercialobserver.com that stated the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Max Hoffman Auto Showroom in New York City is currently being demolished(!) following the departure of the Mercedes-Benz dealership in January. Hopefully a reader near New York City can confirm this horrible news. We'll follow this story as more details emerge. Read more here.

Andrew Schneider sends word of a new petition he started at change.org to stop the installation of billboards on Chicago's Logan Square. The decision will be made soon by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. If you're interested in saving the character of this historic neighborhood then follow the link and virtually "sign" the petition. Help here.

Zach M. recently visited the former site of Bruce Goff's masterpiece Shin'enkan (destroyed by arson in 1996) and discovered that there are now plot lines laid out for a new McMansion that will incorporate the remaining land, hill, and rubble. As stated by poet Robert Frost, "Nothing gold can stay." See what the home looked like before it burned here.

Wifr.com reports that the Rockford city council took a preliminary vote Monday night to change the
zoning on the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Laurent House to grant a special use permit so the home can
be turned into a museum. The Laurent House Foundation only needs to determine a parking solution for visitors before the permit is approved. Read more here.

No, not Scooby Doo. A black Labrador named "Buster" trained in sniffing out cadavers has detected the scent of one at the Sowden House in Los Angeles (designed by Lloyd Wright). The home happens to be where George Hodel, a suspect in the almost 70-year-old murder of actress Elizabeth Short (aka the "Black Dahlia") once lived. Could it be the link needed to solve the mystery? Read more here and see what you think. Thanks to John C. for the link.

Curbed Chicago links to a blog post from realtor Eric Rojas that shows the new single-family home rising from the former site of a coach house on the "Gold Coast" of Chicago where Frank Lloyd Wright lived and had a studio for a brief period of time in 1914. Read more here.

We have some recent news about Florida Southern College's Usonian House Visitor's Center. Seems work on the project (as evidenced in the photos at left) has come to a halt. After a few inquiries at the college as to when the completion date would be and what the hold-up was, we learned that a $500,000 state grant had not come through and thus work has come to a stop. No date other than "hopefully soon" for completion was given. There's nothing more depressing than seeing an unfinished Usonian... hopefully work on this little gem will be up and running soon so visitors can its spaces.

Zachary M. sends a link to a story on Curbed.com about the National Association of Home Builders' 2013 Las Vegas trade show "New American Home" — a 7,000-square-foot, $4 million monument to excess painted and veneered to look "Wright." Have the Home Builders learned nothing from the recent past and its piles of foreclosed McMansions? See more to cringe at here.

John A. sends a link to a news item from artsandcraftscollector.com that David Rago's magazines, Style 1900 and Modernism, have suspended publication and may go the way of the dodo. It would be a shame to lose these quality magazines, but anything print is having a hard time these days. Read more here.

Adam F. sends news that the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum in Two Rivers, WI is being forced to move out of the building, perhaps as early as February 2013. With no cash for such a move and literally tons of rare wood type specimens to pack up, this is bad news for anyone who loves design history and printing. Find out how you can help this important institution after the jump...

Mark Hertzberg sends information from Taliesin-trained architect, John Ottenheimer, about a critical restoration need on the Frank Lloyd Wright Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa, WI. Find out more after the jump...

The State Journal-Register of Springfield, Illinois reports that a vacant home close to the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Dana-Thomas House has been donated to the Foundation that runs it. The article mentions that "long-term usages could include parking, creation of a garden-park or even a visitor center for Dana-Thomas House." Read more here.

The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Robie House in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago has a neighbor in nearby Kenwood with a new historic designation: The residence on the 5000 block of South Greenwood is now the home of a newly elected two-term president.

Now that the news has broken that the David and Gladys Wright House has escaped the jaws of destruction by being sold, the rumor of who the anonymous buyer is has people buzzing. One of the more interesting rumors is that musician and architecture buff, Moby (who likes Wright and spoke out against the destruction of the house on his Facebook page) might be the savior. See more here.

Several news outlets reported Wednesday evening that the current owners of the David and Gladys Wright House in Phoenix, AZ have reached an agreement to sell the architecturally significant
home for the nearly $2.4 million asking price to an anonymous buyer who wants to preserve and restore it, real estate broker
Robert Joffe. More after the jump...

After the staggering news broke that the embattled David and Gladys Wright House could be demolished as soon as tomorrow, the Associated Press reports Wednesday evening that "A senior adviser for Mayor Frank Stanton said Wednesday that the
agreement with the developer who bought the 1952 home delays for nearly a
month any demolition of the house." More after the jump...

For everyone following the saga surrounding the effort to save the David & Gladys Wright House near phoenix, AZ here's a bit of good news from Modern Phoenix's Alison King: "The City of Phoenix Historic Preservation
Commission voted unanimously to recommend and proceed with pursuing
Historic Property designation and Landmark Status of the David Wright
House. Nomination now proceeds to Village Planning Commission Meeting
next. One voted with reservations, but unanimous nonetheless. Why the
reservations? Property owner 8081 Meridian was not present to
participate in the process. Several thoughtful and moving speakers took
the podium in favor [including Frank Henry, Grady Gammage, Scott Jarson, and the original contractor who built the iconic house.] A good night for preservation. Thanks everyone for
your letters and attendance!"

Turns out Chicago, the city Frank Lloyd Wright loved and which had the most important impact on his career, could have been the home of the architect's massive archive—but the Art Institute turned it down. Now the materials will go to New York instead. Sigh. Read more about it here.

The web has been buzzing all day since the announcement that the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives will be moving to New York as part of a joint stewardship agreement between the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Columbia University’s Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library and the Museum of Modern Art.

Want to learn more? Sean Malone, CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, sent special information which will appear in the upcoming issue of The Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly Magazine (if you don't already get it, then become a member to receive it here). Read Mr. Malone's message here.